USA TODAY International Edition
YOUTUBE SHOOTING: FEMALE SUSPECT DEAD, 4 INJURED
Witnesses inside building provide live updates as incident occurs
SAN BRUNO, Calif. – A female suspect is dead after opening fire at YouTube’s headquarters in Northern California on Tuesday in a shooting that left at least four people injured, authorities said.
Police swarmed the three-story building around 1 p.m. after reports of an active gunman. The female gunman — rare in active shooter situations — was found dead of an apparent suicide, San Bruno Police Chief Ed Barberini said at a news conference.
Barberini said the injured were found in the building and at an adjacent business. Police cautioned people to stay away from the building, which is on Cherry Avenue, about 11 miles south of San Francisco. Barberini said “we don’t know the circumstances” of why the woman opened fire, adding the investigation is just beginning.
It’s still unclear how the person was able to make it inside the building and whether there was any security.
Several hospitals said they received patients, including San Francisco General Hospital.
Spokesman Brent Andrew said they received three patients — a woman and two men. One person was in critical condition.
Physician Andre Campbell said all three were hit with bullets. San Bruno police said a fourth person was injured but was not shot.
“You think after we saw Las Vegas and Parkland and the Pulse nightclub shooting that we would see an end to this, but we have not,” Campbell said of the gun violence. “We’ve got a serious problem that we need to address.”
Photos on social media showed hundreds of people with their hands up being escorted by law enforcement out of the building.
Google, which owns YouTube, said in a statement on Twitter “we are coordinating with authorities and will provide official information here from Google and YouTube as it becomes available.”
The company also said it worked with authorities to evacuate the building and “provided employees a helpline.” Those inside the building posted updates as the incident was unfolding.
“Active shooter at YouTube HQ,” Vadim Lavrusik posted on Twitter. “Heard shots and saw people running while at my desk. Now barricaded inside a room with coworkers.”
Lavrusik, who said he works at the company, said he got out safely.
Tim McCarthy and a few colleagues from an equipment rental company were taking a lunch break at Carl’s Jr. — across from a YouTube building — when the shooting started.
“We heard maybe 10 to 15 shots, pop pop pop, all in a row, and then there was a break and there were more shots, the whole thing lasted maybe a minute from start to finish,” he said.
President Trump weighed in on Twitter. “Our thoughts and prayers are with everybody involved,” he posted. “Thank you to our phenomenal Law enforcement officers and first responders that are currently on the scene.”
“Heard shots and saw people running while at my desk. Now barricaded inside a room with coworkers.”
Vadim Lavrusik on Twitter